


Something New

by flowerfan



Series: Something New [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: AVBHS, Blam, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-04 02:33:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for A Very Blam Holiday Season.  It is December 2013.  Blaine went to NYC after high school graduation but Sam didn’t; here’s what happens next…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Christmas Miracle

Only one more day until I can go home for Christmas, Blaine reminded himself as he stepped off the subway and began climbing the endless stairs up to the street. It had been a tough semester, but now it was over. Although he had nothing but an empty loft to go home to tonight, at least he’d be out of the icy sleet that was currently coating the city.

Suddenly a group of kids came rushing down the stairs. The woman ahead of Blaine lost her balance, and as Blaine reached out to help her, he lost his footing and fell. The next thing he knew he was at the bottom of the wet stairwell, people peering down at him. He hurt all over, and closed his eyes, hoping this was some kind of bad dream. 

“Hey, are you ok?” “Is this your book bag?” “Can you move?” “Do you want us to call 911?” Different voices kept asking him questions, and he just couldn’t focus on an answer. His theory that he was dreaming seemed to be confirmed, however, when he heard the next voice.

"Looks like a job for the Blond Chameleon. Step aside, let me see." Blaine noted fuzzily that the Blond Chameleon was using his British voice today. 

"Wait, Blaine? Dude, what happened?" Sam said, his British voice gone. Confused, Blaine opened his eyes.

"Sam? Is it really you?"

"Of course it’s me. Who did you think it was?" Sam reached out to grab Blaine, then hesitated. "Really, man are you ok? Can you sit up?"

Blaine gingerly sat up, wincing when he tried to use his right hand. The world had stopped spinning, mostly, and he focused on Sam, his blue eyes wide with concern. Why was Sam even in the city? Last time they had spoken Sam was still living with his parents, helping out and saving up for college. 

"I’m ok, but I think my wrist is messed up," Blaine said. 

"Let’s see if you can stand up, then, and we’ll get you to a doctor." Sam practically lifted Blaine to his feet, then wrapped his arm firmly around Blaine's waist and guided him carefully back up the stairs and into a cab.

Four hours later, after a tedious wait at NYADA’s medical center and a wet trip back to Bushwick, Blaine was cozily ensconced on the couch, Sam tucked in beside him, both of them covered in blankets. Sam had been surprised to learn that Blaine was still living in the loft with Kurt and the others. Blaine had explained that although he and Kurt had broken up (again, and probably for good), they actually were still close, and he hadn’t gotten around to finding a new place yet. 

"I hate to ask," Sam began, "but would it be ok if I stayed here while you go home for Christmas? I can, you know, house sit. I won’t make a mess or anything."  
Blaine still hadn’t figured out why Sam was in New York or how long he was staying, but information didn’t always come out in an orderly fashion when talking with Sam. 

"You can definitely stay here, Sam, but I’m not going anywhere. Didn’t you hear the doctor? I can’t fly tomorrow because I hit my head falling down the stairs. And I can’t book another flight because, well, it’s Christmastime." Blaine gave Sam a shy smile. "It would actually be you doing me a huge favor if you stayed here with me."

"Really? We can spend Christmas together? That’s awesome!" Sam nearly flew off the couch. "There’s so much we can do - bake cookies, trim the tree, watch Christmas movies…"

"Uh, Sam?" Blaine held up his bandaged right wrist. "Given that I’m supposed to be resting my hand, and the tree is already trimmed, maybe we can start with the movies?"

"Right. Sorry dude, I just got excited." Sam sat down on the couch, scooting back under the blanket with Blaine. 

"It’s ok. I’m actually kind of excited too. I mean, I’m not glad I got hurt, but I am really glad to see you." 

"Yeah?" Sam twisted towards Blaine, smiling widely. 

"Yeah," Blaine paused, not sure how much to say. "I really missed you." He figured that was safe.

"I missed you too. Stevie and Stacie are decent sidekicks, but nothing compares to Blam." Sam put his arm around Blaine and pulled him closer. "We belong together, don’t you think?"

His heart racing, Blaine rested his head on Sam’s shoulder and tried to relax. 

“Today you weren’t just a superhero, Sam. You were my Christmas miracle.”


	2. Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for A Very Blam Holiday Season
> 
> It’s December 2013; Blaine moved to NYC after high school graduation, but Sam didn’t. Luckily Sam turns up when Blaine needs him. 
> 
> Following Blaine's fall, Sam helps him get some rest.

“Blaine. Blaine, can you wake up for a minute?” 

Blaine squirmed, uncomfortable from falling asleep on the couch. He opened his eyes to see Sam in front of him, perched on the coffee table, holding a glass of water and a bottle of pills. He rolled his neck and winced. Wait, what was Sam doing here? Then Blaine remembered his dramatic fall down the subway stairs and Sam’s fortuitous appearance.

“Blaine, dude, you were supposed to take another one of these pills about an hour ago, but I couldn’t stand to wake you up,” Sam said softly. “How are you feeling?”

Blaine cringed as he tried to sit up straighter on the couch, inadvertently leaning on his injured right hand. “Ok, I guess. Kind of achy?” He stretched and wiggled his toes, testing out what parts of his body hurt and what didn’t.

“You’re getting kind of a badass looking bruise on your head, too,” Sam said, pointing to a spot just over Blaine’s right eye. “Looks like you were in a fight.”

“A fight with the stairs?”

“You never know where evil will turn up. Obviously, you chased away the bad guys by the time I got there.” Sam smiled broadly at Blaine. “Here, take your medicine and you can get into bed and go back to sleep.” 

“Sounds good.” Blaine took the glass of water from Sam and swallowed the pill. He stood up and swayed for a moment until Sam put an arm around him.

“Hey, careful there. Are you feeling dizzy?” Sam asked.

“Maybe a little. I think I’m okay now.” Blaine made his way into Kurt’s bedroom, Sam following close behind. It still felt like Kurt’s bedroom to him, even though he had been sharing it with him for months. They had managed to squeeze in a twin bed for him by moving the loft partitions a little bit – it hadn’t seemed quite right to share a bed after they broke up, and yet there really wasn’t room in the loft to make a whole new bedroom. The whole thing was awkward, yet Blaine hadn’t been able to bring himself to move out yet. 

“Do you want me to find some pajamas for you or something?” Sam asked.

“Nah, I’m good.” The gray sweatpants and comfy t-shirt he had changed into when they got home that afternoon were fine for sleeping, and Blaine didn’t have the energy to change clothes anyway. He sat down on the larger bed, while Sam remained by the curtained doorway, looking confused. Blaine smiled up at him. 

“Thanks for taking care of me, Sam. You know, you don’t have to go to sleep now just because I am - feel free to do whatever you want.”

“Ok, thanks.” Sam still looked uncomfortable. “Um, where should I sleep?”

“Oh sorry – I’m being a bad host, aren’t?” Blaine exclaimed. “Here, I’ll get you some clean sheets and towels…”

As Blaine moved stiffly to get up off the bed, Sam stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “No way, that’s totally not what I meant. You stay right here – get under the covers and lie down. You need to rest.”

Blaine sat back down, then slid under the blankets and laid his head down on the pillow. “Oh, that does feel better.” Blaine closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again when he felt Sam sit down on the edge of the bed. “You should sleep in here with me,” Blaine whispered, then, wondering if that was too forward, “like our sleepovers senior year, right?” He looked up at Sam, but couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Or you can sleep in one of the girls’ rooms, they’re gone for Christmas break already too, they won’t mind. Or the couch, but I really can’t recommend it, it always gives me a serious crick in my neck.”

“You can relax, Blaine, I get it. I’ll sleep in here with you. I need to keep an eye on you anyway.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean, what if you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t figure out why your wrist is all bandaged up? Or you need another pain pill? Or there’s thunder?”

“Thunder?” Blaine asked.

“Yeah, I hate when thunder wakes me up at night, it’s scary. I wouldn’t want you to have to face that alone.”

“Ok, cool.” Blaine yawned, and his eyes felt too heavy to keep them open any longer. “I think I’m going to sleep now, Sam. Feel free to watch tv, or use my computer, whatever you want.” He snuggled deeper into the pillow. “I can’t believe you’re here, and I can’t even stay awake.”

Blaine dozed, almost forgetting that Sam was there. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, and a light kiss to the top of his head. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll have plenty of fun tomorrow,” Sam said softly. 

Later that night, Blaine drifted up out of sleep for a few minutes. He wasn’t sure what woke him up, but it definitely wasn’t thunder. Probably just his aching wrist. He did hear something different in the loft, though, not the usual beeping and creaking of city life. Instead, it was Sam playing the guitar, something sweet and comforting. Like a lullaby, Blaine thought. He let the music soothe him back to sleep, happy and hopeful in a way he hadn’t felt for a long time.


	3. All I Want For Christmas Is You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for A Very Blam Holiday Season – Prompt: Meeting The Parents
> 
> This chapter gets more serious, with reference to what Sam was doing before coming to NYC. Stallionz wasn't as innocent as it used to be.

It’s been two days since Blaine tumbled down the subway stairs, and he is finally off the heavy duty pain meds. He feels like he’s been in a bit of a fog the past few days, although it’s been a very pleasant one, with Sam shepherding him back and forth from the bedroom to the couch, finding silly videos for him to watch and tucking blankets over him when he got cold. One afternoon he fell asleep next to Sam during an Avengers marathon and woke up with his head on his lap, cozy and warm.

They had decided to check in with their families this morning. It was Christmas Eve, and Blaine was feeling a little sad about not being at home. His family wasn’t very large, but they truly enjoyed each other’s company. His mom had two sisters, but his dad was an only child, and he didn’t have any cousins. He knew his aunts would be at his house today, cooking with his mom and getting into the spiked eggnog, while his dad would be left to himself to watch football. Cooper wasn’t making it home this Christmas either. It would be the first time his parents were childless on Christmas, and the thought was making Blaine miss them even more.

Blaine made coffee while Sam was in the shower. It was already after ten, and they had told Blaine’s parents they would call at eleven. He wanted to run through their song before they made the call. As a holiday present for their families, they had decided to sing something for them together. He and Sam had practiced a few times the day before, with Sam on guitar, since Blaine’s wrist still wasn’t in any shape for piano playing.

Just before eleven, Blaine and Sam set the laptop on the coffee table, and made sure Sam’s guitar was in reach. Blaine was excited to talk to his family, but when he glanced over at Sam, he noticed that he looked worried. “Sam, everything okay?”

Sam straightened up and looked hesitantly at Blaine. “Your parents are okay with me being here, right?” Sam asked.

“Of course,” Blaine replied. “You pretty much saved my ass the past few days, and they know it. Plus, they love you. Why wouldn’t they be happy you’re here?”

“I don’t know, I just drop in out of nowhere and crash with you? Won’t they think that’s strange?”

“No stranger than what I think,” Blaine laughed, and gave Sam a playful shove. “Don’t worry, I promise it’s okay.”

Sam smiled. “Fine, let’s do this.”

Blaine placed the call and soon they were chatting happily with his parents. His aunts took a turn saying hello, and his dad carried the laptop around the house, showing off some new decorations. Then Sam got the guitar and he and Blaine sang “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which was, not surprisingly, a big hit.

It was a good call, and Blaine felt better when they disconnected, although he was a little teary. Sam gave him a quick hug and then went to refill their coffee mugs, texting his parents as he went. “Mom says Stevie isn’t ready, they want to talk in about an hour,” Sam informed Blaine. “Apparently he’s making something to show us.”

“Fine with me,” said Blaine. “Want to get started on the cookies?”

Although Sam had wanted to make cookies for days, Blaine hadn’t really felt up to more than sitting on the couch, so they had put it off. Now they were ready to go. Blaine’s favorite was a chocolate espresso crinkle cookie, and they were also going to make sugar cookies to cut out and decorate. Sam had gone shopping yesterday and they had plenty of supplies, including some gingerbread men cookie cutters that were going to be adorable.

As Blaine worked on the sugar cookie dough, he wondered about Sam’s question earlier. Was it strange that he had just shown up on his doorstep (more or less), without any explanation? Yeah, it kind of was. But there must be a reason that Sam hadn’t filled him in yet. Blaine knew he hadn’t asked, either. It was so good having Sam with him, he didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. He loved living with Kurt, Rachel, and Santana, even if things with Kurt were still a little awkward after their second breakup, but Sam was special. Sam had been there for him senior year, when he was at his lowest, and he didn’t think anyone really knew him the way that Sam did. And of course, there were those lips… Blaine sighed.

They boys rolled out the dough and were just finishing up a tray of gingerbread men when Sam’s phone buzzed. “They’re ready – want to Skype them now?”

“Sure.” Blaine set the timer on the oven and washed his hands, then joined Sam on the couch. He loved Sam’s family. After McKinley graduation he had gone home to Kentucky with Sam for a few days, back when they thought Sam was coming to New York with him in the fall. Blaine felt comfortable with Mary and Dwight (although he wouldn’t call them by their first names, of course), and had a blast goofing around with Stevie and Stacey.

When the Skype call began, the scene at the Evans house was considerably more chaotic than at the Anderson’s. Two sets of aunts and uncles, together with five cousins, were all jumping back and forth in front of the computer, saying hello and sending holiday wishes. Stevie showed Blaine and Sam the Christmas card he had made for them, complete with a drawing of a Christmas tree hung with what he said were his favorite Christmas songs. This didn’t make a lot of sense, but it was a cute thought, and it provided the perfect segue into Sam and Blaine’s performance of “All I Want for Christmas.” 

Just as the song ended they heard the oven timer going off, and Sam jumped up to check the cookies. Blaine saw Mary Evans pick up her laptop and walk down the hall with it. “Blaine, I’m just going somewhere quieter for a minute,” she explained. “I wanted to tell you how glad we are that Sam is with you. It really means a lot to us.”

“I’m glad he’s here, too,” Blaine replied. Mary was so sweet, he thought. Just like Sam.

“You know Sam’s had a really rough time lately, and we can’t think of anywhere he would be better off than with his best friend. We trust you to get him through this. But please, let us know if it seems like too much.” Mary smiled softly. “You’re really just a kid too. We can come get him, if he needs us to. And he has money for rent, don’t worry about that.”

“No, of course, I understand,” Blaine stammered, trying to cover up his confusion. What was she talking about? Blaine almost asked Mary what was going on, but then decided against it. He didn’t want to violate Sam’s trust by revealing anything more, even his own ignorance. He’d ask Sam straight out, and give him a chance to tell him himself. And if that didn’t work, he’d figure out where to go from there.

Sam joined Blaine back on the couch, and they chatted some more, then said their goodbyes. The apartment seemed quiet after the happy bantering with Sam’s family, so they turned on some music, and went back to cookie preparation. When several more trays had been put in the oven, Blaine heated up some cider and put some of the less presentable cookies on a plate. He sat down at the kitchen table with them, and motioned to Sam. “Sit down for a minute. I want to talk to you.”

“Okay…” Sam said, sitting down. “We’ve been talking all day. What’s up?”

“You never told me why you turned up in New York three days before Christmas.”

“Dude, you know I wanted to come to New York. I just wanted to spend some time at home first.” Sam smiled strangely and grabbed a cookie from the plate. “It’s not that complicated,” he said lightly.

“Sam, I know how you look when you’re hiding something, and it’s how you look right now,” Blaine chided. “Plus, your mom told me something happened.”

Sam’s face paled. “What did she say?”

“Hey, Sam, it’s okay,” Blaine scooted closer to Sam. “She didn’t actually tell me, she seemed to think I already knew.” Blaine smiled gently at Sam, in what he hoped was an encouraging manner. “But you can tell me anything, you know. Maybe I can help.”

“I was going to tell you right away, I really was. But you were so out of it with that medication, so cute and smiley all the time, I just couldn’t do it.” Sam sighed and stood up, walking back and forth in the small kitchen. “I don’t know how to say it. You’re going to think I’m awful.”

“I could never think that about you, Sam. You know that.” Blaine tapped his ipod, turning off the cheery Christmas music that suddenly seemed entirely wrong. He stood and took Sam’s arm. “Come sit down with me.”

They returned to their comfortable spot on the couch, and Blaine pulled a soft fleece blanket over them. Sam tugged the blanket up around him, rubbing the fabric with his fingers. Blaine tried to catch Sam’s eyes, but Sam just looked down at his lap.

“Maybe you could start with where you went in September,” Blaine prompted.

“Right, okay.” Sam took a deep breath. “I chickened out of coming to New York. I wasn’t sure it was right for me, and I decided to take a little more time to think about what I wanted to do. I know all I told you was that I wanted to help my family out, but that wasn’t really the whole story.” Sam looked up at Blaine, who smiled understandingly.

“That’s okay, Sam, I get it.” Blaine replied, nodding.

“I had always wanted to go to Alaska and work on a fishing boat. But it turns out Alaska is really far away, and it costs a bunch of money just to get out there, and September isn’t the best time to start anyway. So I stayed at home with my parents in Kentucky. I helped out with the kids, and I volunteered at an afterschool childcare program for a little while. I actually tried to get some modeling jobs, but there wasn’t much available there.” Sam curled his arms around himself and flicked a quick glance up at Blaine. “So I went back to Stallionz.”

“That’s the exotic dancing place you worked at before?” Blaine asked.

Sam laughed quietly at Blaine’s polite wording. “Yeah, that’s where I used to strip. So I went back. But it was different than when I worked there junior year. This new guy, Mack, was the manager, and he wasn’t nearly as nice as Ernie, the previous manager. Mack joked around with the dancers, but his jokes weren’t friendly. Sometimes he was downright mean. And not Santana mean, but actually mean.”

Sam paused for a minute, but Blaine waited. It was clear Sam had more to say.

“Mack liked to set his favorite dancers up with customers for private shows. He had set up a little room in the back with a chair and a loveseat, and soft lighting, and you could pick the music you wanted to play. After I had been there for a while, Mack asked me if I wanted to do private shows.”

“What’s a private show?” Blaine asked, his voice quiet. He was getting a knot in his stomach.

“I thought at first it was a lap dance. But it turned out that’s not what Mack had in mind.” Sam’s voice was barely a whisper now. “He wanted me to have sex with them.”

Sam pulled his knees up to his chest and kept talking. “I told him I’d think about it, and I did. I convinced myself that it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. I’m comfortable with my body, and I like sex, and it would pay well. I figured that if I had the right mind set, there wouldn’t be anything wrong with it. So I told Mack, and he set me up with my first customer. She was nice enough, and it went okay. The next weekend, he made me an appointment with another customer, but that one didn’t go as well. She really seemed to like me, but I just couldn’t get into it. It started to feel really weird, and I couldn’t, you know, perform.” Sam’s face was red, but he pressed on. “She didn’t say anything to Mack, and I didn’t either. But when I went home that night, I starting thinking that I had made a mistake.”

“Then Mack made me an appointment for a private show just a few days later. I had though there wouldn’t be another one until the next weekend, so I hadn’t gotten around to saying anything to him yet about not wanting to do it again. I didn’t want to rock the boat, so I figured I’d just go through with it this one last time, and then talk to Mack afterwards. But when I went back to the room and saw the guy there, waiting for me, I kind of freaked out. I didn’t want to do anything with him. My head was spinning, and I just had to get out of there. I bumped into Mack on my way out of the club and he started yelling at me. I yelled back, and then I punched him, and he fell down, cursing at me and calling me names – stupid whore, things like that. I ran out and got into my car and drove home. I told my parents – not the whole thing, not about the sex part, just about stripping and fighting with Mack – and then I started packing.”

“Sam, I’m so sorry. This shouldn’t have happened to you,” Blaine said softly. He didn’t know what to say. He felt like his heart was breaking, Sam was so sad. “I’m so sorry,” he said again, uselessly. “Mack never should have assumed you’d do it with a guy, that was completely inappropriate. And he shouldn’t have yelled at you when you decided you didn’t want to do it anymore. What an awful person.” 

The beeping of the oven timer startled them both. “I’ll get them.” Blaine went to the kitchen to get the cookies, glad to have a minute to breathe. He pulled the cookies out of the oven and when he turned around, Sam was right behind him.

“Sam, shit, you startled me.” 

“Sorry, man. But I want to be clear about something.”

“Of course.” Blaine tried to calm himself down and focus on what Sam was saying.

Sam stepped even closer to Blaine and took his hand. Blaine could feel Sam shaking – or maybe Blaine was shaking, he wasn’t sure.

“I’m really okay, first of all. My parents probably overreacted. I never did anything with the customers that I didn’t want to do. I still feel weird about it, but I’m okay.”

“That’s good. There’s nothing to be ashamed about. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Blaine insisted. 

“I’m glad you feel that way. And I know it, I do. But there’s something else I really need you to know.” Sam paused. “I didn’t get upset about the third customer because he was a guy. Or at least, that wasn’t the only reason.” 

“No, of course, I get it,” Blaine said. He knew Sam wasn’t homophobic.

“Blaine, listen to me for a minute, please?” Sam was looking at Blaine intently.

Blaine nodded. “I’m listening.”

Sam took a deep breath, and squeezed Blaine’ s hand. “It’s not that I’ve never pictured myself with a guy. It’s just that when I imagined myself with a guy, it was you. Always you. And I didn’t want to be with anyone else.”

Blaine couldn’t believe it. He felt warm all over, like the sun had just come out. “Really? You want to be with me?”

“Really. And I know I blew it last year, but I was kind of hoping you’d give me another chance, if this whole story hasn’t turned you off me altogether.” Sam smiled broadly, his eyes lighting up when he saw Blaine staring back, his smile equally wide. “I promise, this isn’t about Barry Manilow this time.” They both laughed. “What do you say, maybe I can take you on a date?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Blaine agreed, grinning. He jumped up and down a little, and then gave Sam a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ve been saying it all day, you know. All I want for Christmas is you.”


	4. Sweet Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam tells Blaine about some dreams he had... about Blaine.

Later that day, when Blaine and Sam became thoroughly tired of making, decorating, and eating cookies, they decided to get some fresh air. Blaine was excited to show Sam around Bushwick, and despite it being Christmas Eve, many stores and restaurants were still open. They stopped to pick up some Thai food takeout and beer, Blaine having discovered that the neighborhood liquor stores didn’t ever card him. He figured it was the way he dressed. Although he didn’t wear bow ties as much as he used to, today he had on one of his favorites, a festive dark green tie with little silver stars.

As they headed out of the store, Sam bumped his shoulder up against Blaine and took his hand. Blaine smiled and swung their arms a bit, feeling pretty much as happy as he ever had.

“This is pretty cool,” Sam said, giving Blaine a giddy look. “I can’t believe it took me so long.”

“Yeah? How long have you been thinking about it?” 

“Well, remember during Guilty Pleasure week when I told you not to worry because the attention felt good?” Sam asked.

Blaine nodded, quickly pushing away the spike of embarrassment he still felt when he remembered that day. 

“After I said it, I realized how true it was. It felt really good that you liked me that way. And I found myself thinking about you a lot. During Glee, during student council, driving back and forth to school. All the time, for a while there. And you kept showing up in my dreams.”

“Really?” Blaine steered Sam around a corner to the door to his building, and they headed up the stairs. “What kind of dreams?”

Sam laughed as they went into the loft and put their packages down in the kitchen. “You really want to know?” 

Blaine smiled mischievously. “Definitely.” He opened up a beer and handed it to Sam, then took one for himself.

“You’re not shy about this kind of thing, are you?” Sam looked at Blaine curiously.

“What, about dreams featuring me and my best friend? What’s to be shy about?” Blaine joked.

“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you.” They sat down at the kitchen table, knees touching, the Thai food momentarily forgotten.

“In the first one you were wearing the tux you had on for the Sadie Hawkins dance. Sometimes all dressed up, sometimes your jacket was off and you just had on the shirt, like when we sang No Scrubs. You were upset about something, and I was talking to you about it. When I woke up, I felt really sad for you. Even though I didn’t know what was wrong in the dream, it just felt like I should be doing something about it.”

“Okay, that’s not the kind of dream I thought you were going to tell me about,” Blaine commented. 

“Hey, you asked me! Patience, young padawan.” Sam smiled, bumping his knee against Blaine’s under the table.

“All right, so then we spent an endless student council meeting talking about prom,” Sam continued.

“I remember that meeting. No one could agree on a theme.”

“It got me thinking about what I really wanted for my senior prom. Not about the theme, so much, but who I wanted to be with.” Sam reached for another beer, almost knocking over Blaine’s where it sat on the table.

“Tipsy already? I’m surprised,” Blaine smiled. 

“Nah, just clumsy.” Sam cocked his head, looking at Blaine appraisingly. “This is the first time we’ve had anything to drink together, isn’t it?”

“Unless you count Rachel’s trainwreck of a party our sophomore year.” Blaine laughed.

“That’s right, you were there too, weren’t you? I remember you singing with Rachel.” Sam paused. “That you seems like a totally different person.”

“I know what you mean. I kind of was.” Blaine thought back to how nervous he was that night, and how hard he had worked to hide it. Obviously leading to too much to drink.

“I remember you that night,” Blaine continued. “Or at least, I remember looking at Santana on top of you, and your hands all over her.”

“Oh, man,” Sam said, burying his head in his hands. “That may have been the first time I ever got drunk. I was a wreck the next morning.”

“Me too! Did you know I woke up the next day in Kurt’s bed? Fully dressed,” he quickly reassured Sam. “And that was how Kurt’s dad met me for the first time.”

“Smooth, Anderson.”

“Yeah, not my best move.” Blaine opened a second beer. “I’m still a lightweight. I don’t drink very often, anyway.”

“Me neither. Empty calories, you know.” 

“Of course.” Blaine smiled. “All right, you distracted me for a while, but now I want to hear more about your dreams.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you my favorite one. I dreamed we went on a hike, up a mountain near Lima.”

“There aren’t any mountains near Lima,” Blaine interrupted.

“I know, it’s a dream, be quiet and listen!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Anyway, we were hiking. It was a gorgeous sunny day. I was wearing my red shorts and a white tank top, like I used to wear for gym, and you were wearing these little green shorts and a blue Dalton shirt. You were ahead of me on the trail and looking at you was driving me crazy.” Sam looked at Blaine, and Blaine felt himself blush. “Hang in there, it gets worse from here,” Sam joked.

“So we got to the top, and we spread out a blanket and lay down in the sun, just enjoying the view. Then you rubbed your shoulder and said how you had pulled it in Cheerios practice the day before – the fact that you were wearing that Cheerios outfit all the time last spring didn’t help matters any, you know,” Sam said, interrupting himself. “Anyway, you said your shoulder hurt so I offered to give you a back rub.” Now Sam was blushing.

“A back rub, huh?” Blaine asked.

“Yeah, a back rub. Get your mind out of the gutter, dude, there’s nothing wrong with a back rub. I give awesome back rubs.”

“I’m sure you do, Sam.”

“I totally do. Here, I’ll show you.” Sam got up from his chair and stood behind Blaine, placing his hands on his shoulders.

“Is this still the dream?” Blaine asked, his heart starting to speed up.

“Sure. Just imagine we’re on top of a mountain, tired from our hike. The sun is beating down on us.” Sam started to massage Blaine’s shoulders. Blaine relaxed into his touch, enjoying the feeling of Sam’s hands.

“Oh, and we’re all sweaty, so we took off our shirts.” Sam added.

Blaine choked on his beer. “Sam, seriously?”

“That’s what happened in the dream! But it’s kind of chilly in here, so we should probably leave our shirts on for now.”

“Yeah, okay,” Blaine said weakly. He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he figured he better just hang on and enjoy the ride.

“So in the dream we’re up on the mountain, and I’m sitting behind you, giving you a back rub. And you’ve got a beautiful back, all muscle-y and nice to touch. And I asked you if you were going to ask Kurt to the prom. And you said no, Kurt was pretty clear that you were just friends.” 

Sam paused in his ministrations, thinking for a minute. “This is the part in the dream that I kept replaying, over and over. Wondering if it could work this way.” He took a breath. “In the dream I could feel my hands on you,” Sam ran his hands down Blaine’s arms, circling his biceps, back up to his shoulders. “I just wanted to keep touching you,” he said quietly, leaning down and giving Blaine a little kiss on the side of his neck. 

“So I said something like well, it’s prom, maybe Kurt would want to be there. You said that it wouldn’t make sense for to you to go to the prom with Kurt, since he hadn’t really been involved with your life senior year. So I said well, I’ve been involved with your life this year, why don’t you go with me? And you gave me one of your great big happy smiles, and said yes, and everything was awesome!”

Blaine stood up and turned around to Sam. He still really couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That’s an amazing dream,” he said, pulling Sam into a hug. “I’m glad you told me about it. But why didn’t you say anything last year?” Blaine could hardly imagine what it would have been like if he knew Sam was interested in him back then.

“By the time I really figured it out, and was ready to say something to you, you were talking about asking Kurt to marry you. You were so into him, and I just couldn’t get in the way. I missed my chance.”

“But now you have a second chance,” Blaine said, grinning. “We both do.”

“Too bad we’ll never get back our senior prom. It really did kind of suck,” Sam said sadly. 

Blaine agreed. “Yeah, even though Kurt and I were together, he still didn’t come to prom. And our whole plan to make Tina feel better by getting her a date wound up just backfiring on you.”

“And then there was the giant slushie,” Sam sighed. “Why was McKinley so awful?”

“I don’t know, there was a lot of crazy, but a lot of good stuff too.” Blaine paused, taking Sam’s hands. “You know, we can have our own prom whenever you want. Or better yet, we can go out dancing now. Not right now, but you know, on our date.”

“How about we do both?” Sam took a moment to find a song on Blaine’s iphone, and then came back to Blaine, pulling him close. “Dance with me?”

As they swayed together, Blaine rested his head on Sam’s shoulder, marveling at the events of the day. It had really been the stuff that dreams are made of.


	5. Memories

As Blaine was cleaning up the dinner dishes, he thought back on what Sam had told him earlier. There had been times last spring where he wondered if Sam had feelings for him, but after being told flat out that he didn’t during Guilty Pleasures week, he had figured he was just reading too much into Sam’s inherent friendliness.

One of those times, though, had always stuck in his mind, making him wonder a bit too much. In the choir room after the shots had echoed through the school, Blaine had hardly been able to move. But when the all clear was announced and Sam wrapped his arms around him, he could finally breathe again. 

The next few hours were hazy in his memory, but the one thing he knew is that Sam was always there. When they were allowed to leave the school, Sam drove Blaine home, and waited there with him until his parents arrived. He remembered Sam sitting next to him on the couch in his living room, tucking a blanket around him, doing impressions to get him to smile. At one point Blaine had dozed off and then woke up with a cry, only to find Sam wrapped tightly around him, whispering “you’re okay, you’re okay, everything’s okay.” 

When Blaine’s parents got home they included Sam in their hugs, and insisted that he stay for dinner. His mom made a fire in the fireplace even though it wasn’t very cold out, and after dinner they all gathered in front of the fire, talking quietly about everything and nothing. Sam pulled out Blaine’s old guitar and strummed softly for a while, then asked for requests, and the night turned into a campfire singalong, the tension and fear of the day melting away with their playful singing. Sam knew a surprising number of folk songs, explaining when asked that he used to sing them to his brother and sister to help them fall asleep. Apparently Stacie insisted on “Puff the Magic Dragon” every night. Blaine’s mom loved Sam’s rendition of “Scarborough Fair,” but Blaine’s favorite was rocking out with Sam to “American Pie.”

After Blaine’s parents said their goodnights and went off to bed, it having been decided sometime earlier that Sam was staying the night, Blaine went up to his room to wash up. Sam found him in his room a few minutes later, pajamas on, looking lost. Sam took him by the hand and led him back downstairs to where he had made them a cozy nest of blankets and pillows in front of the fire. Sam got under the blankets and held out an arm for Blaine, who lay down against him, head on Sam’s chest. 

Blaine didn’t remember a lot about that horrible day, but he remembered every detail of that moment with Sam, including his own desperate decision to _not think too hard about it._ It was the same “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” feeling he had when Sam turned up in New York a few days ago – apparently, stemming from exactly the same source. 

Pulling himself out of his reverie, Blaine gazed happily over at Sam where he was perched on the couch, remote in hand, picking out a holiday movie for them to watch. He imagined Santana would have some choice comments about what Blaine was now free to do with his gift horse (and that mouth) – but for now, curling up together and watching a movie seemed like the very best Christmas present of all.


	6. Nighttime Conversation

At some point that night, snuggled up with Sam on the couch watching movies, Blaine had fallen soundly asleep. He didn’t even remember moving into bed. But when he woke up, he and Sam were both tucked under the covers, Sam turned away from him. And Sam was crying.

Blaine reached for Sam before he even really woke up. “Sam? What’s wrong?”

Sam flinched and curled away from Blaine. “Don’t. You don’t have to…” 

Blaine paused, not sure how to react. The last he remembered, he and Sam were happy – deliriously happy, at least, on his part – and he certainly didn’t recall screwing anything up. Then his sleepy mind stumbled on what Sam had told him about his time in Kentucky. Apparently Sam wasn’t as okay as he had told him he was. Not surprisingly. 

“Sam, turn over and talk to me?” 

Sam shook his head. Blaine almost wanted to laugh at his shaggy blond hair shaking back and forth. Carefully, Blaine climbed over Sam and lay down facing him, close, but not touching. He waited until Sam caught his breath and his tears had slowed.

“Can you tell me what’s upsetting you?” Blaine asked softly. “I’d like to try to help.” There was no response from Sam, who kept his eyes tightly closed. “I don’t know about you, but I had one of the most amazing days of my life today. With you.” Blaine reached out and laid his fingertips on Sam’s shoulder. “Come on, Sam. I adore my awesome boyfriend, and I don’t like to see him upset.”

“You don’t want me for a boyfriend,” Sam sniffled, opening his eyes.

“I do, Sam. I really, really do.” Blaine slowly took Sam’s hand in his, raising it up to his mouth and brushing a soft kiss to his knuckles. Sam tensed, but he didn’t pull away. “Are you worried because of what happened at Stallionz?”

“Duh,” said Sam sadly. 

“Tell me what you’re worried about.” Blaine squeezed Sam’s hand, and tilted his head, trying to catch Sam’s gaze.

Sam exhaled slowly. “It’s disgusting, Blaine. I had sex for money. I touched people – I let them touch me – and I didn’t care about them at all. I didn’t even know them. It’s just disgusting. You deserve better.”

“Sam, listen to me carefully, okay?” Blaine waited until Sam met his eyes. “Have I given you any indication at all that I think what you did was disgusting? Or that I think any less of you because of it?”

“No.” Sam looked away. “But I’m afraid that when it sinks in, you will.”

“I won’t, Sam, I promise you that I won’t.” Blaine watched Sam’s eyes flicker back to him, and then away, searching.

“How do you know?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“Well, for one, I’m not so certain that having sex for money is always a bad thing. I mean, unfortunately most of the time it seems to not work out so well, and sex workers can wind up being abused, but in some countries, it’s legal and regulated. And there are sex therapists that help people with sexual issues – they have sex for money – you know, like Helen Hunt in The Sessions? It seems like if the problems were removed, it might be useful to be able to hire someone to help you figure stuff like that out.”

Sam looked at Blaine like he had two heads. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am. It’s like you said – you’re comfortable with your body, and you like sex. You didn’t do anything wrong, Sam. You really didn’t.”

“That’s what I thought too. But now it feels wrong. I feel sick when I think about it.”

“It’s okay if you still feel upset about it. You can’t help what you feel. We can keep talking about it – we should keep talking about it. And maybe find you someone else to talk about it with too, like a counselor or something, someone who’s better at this than me. But you didn’t do anything wrong,” Blaine insisted.

“Blaine, I’m a prostitute.” Sam stumbled over the word. “How can that not be wrong?” 

“You’re not a prostitute, Sam,” Blaine said firmly. “You only did it twice. That’s not exactly a career.”

Sam laughed weakly and buried his head in his hands. “Shit, I’m sorry. I’m such a mess.”

“It’s okay, Sam,” Blaine reassured him. “Come here.” He let go of Sam’s hand and pulled him into a hug. “You know how much I care about you. Let me help you get through this.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Blaine thought about it for a minute, it seemed so obvious to him, but apparently not to Sam. “You mean, in addition to the fact that I’m crazy about you?”

“Yeah, exactly. How can you feel that way about me, given what I did?”

Blaine let go of Sam, climbing back over him and out of bed. “Hang on, I’m not going anywhere,” he said over his shoulder to Sam. He pulled out a plastic box from under the bed, and opened it up. “Remember this?”

Sam sat up, taking the box from Blaine. “Of course, it’s your Nightbird costume.” 

Blaine climbed back up on the bed, sitting cross-legged in front of Sam. “Remember what you said to me when I was emptying out my locker, about to leave McKinley?”

Sam shrugged.

“You told me I wasn’t a bad person.” Blaine smiled at Sam. “You still have no idea what you did for me that day, do you? That day, and all the days afterwards, when I felt so awful I didn’t know how to breathe. You showed me that just because I did a bad thing, it didn’t make me a bad person. That I could still be a hero.” Blaine paused. He put his hands on Sam’s shoulders, and looked directly at him, as open and honest as he could be. “You helped me understand that there was more to me than just one mistake.”

Blaine could see the light come back into Sam’s eyes, and his whole body seemed to relax. “You think you’re so smart, Blaine Anderson, using my own words against me,” Sam joked, the corners of his mouth curling up just a little.

“You’re obviously the smart one, Sam, you said it first,” Blaine replied, grinning. He reached out to hug Sam again, and this time Sam hugged him back, tight. They rested there against each other, Blaine closing his eyes and breathing deeply, his head on Sam’s shoulder.

After a few minutes, Sam pulled back and glanced at the clock, which showed that it was well after midnight. “I guess we should probably go to sleep, right?” 

“Yeah, probably.” Blaine lay down and motioned to Sam, who curled up with his head on Blaine’s chest.

“I’m not going to crush you like this?” Sam asked.

“Nope, no worries. I like you here.” Blaine stroked Sam’s hair gently.

“I like it here too.” Sam was quiet for a minute, then picked his head up and looked at Blaine. “You realize it’s Christmas now?”

“Shhh, it’s too early to be Christmas. Go to sleep, we’ll have Christmas in the morning.”

“Okay. But – merry Christmas, Blaine.”

“Merry Christmas, Sam.”


	7. Secret Santa (Prelude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas morning, and things are heating up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This is the first half of the response to the Secret Santa prompt; the second half will be posted tomorrow.

“Hey, time to wake up,” a low voice whispered in Blaine’s ear.

Blaine felt a warm hand on his shoulder, then a quick kiss on his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Sam, with jeans on but no shirt, lounging on the bed beside him. 

Sam ran his hand down Blaine’s arm and took his hand, squeezing it happily. “It’s Christmas, dude. Time to get up. The cinnamon rolls are in the oven, and the coffee’s almost done.”

Blaine blinked hazily. Sam looked good, and he smelled good too.

“Thanks,” Sam said, smiling.

“Wait, did I say that out loud?” Blaine mumbled. He had to wake up and get with the program, who knows what he’d say next.

Sam laughed. “Yup. Don’t worry, I’m glad you think I smell good.”

Blaine closed his eyes. Maybe this was just a dream and he didn’t just make a fool out of himself in front of his brand new boyfriend. On the other hand, it was a pretty awesome dream.

Sam was still talking about his shower experience, which was apparently memorable. “You guys have a ton of hair stuff in that bathroom – it’s like having a whole drugstore full of shampoos to choose from.   
Here, can you tell what I used?” Sam playfully dragged his hair back and forth over Blaine’s face. His hair did smell good, and so did his cologne, and his completely naked chest was right up against Blaine. Blaine reached out and let his hand drift over Sam’s pecs.

“You don’t have a shirt on,” he murmured.

“It got wet while I was cooking. Thought it wasn’t worth getting another one dirty.” Sam smiled down at Blaine. “You’re distracted, aren’t you?”

Duh, obviously, Blaine thought. “What was the question?”

“What does my hair smell like?”

OK, fine, he thought. Blaine pulled Sam’s head down and snuggled his face into Sam’s hair. Sam hummed happily for a minute, then sat back up. “Time’s up!”

Blaine tried to focus on answering the question. “Uh, coconut?”

“Got it in one!”

Blaine groaned. “Did the bottle by any chance have a sticker on it that said ‘property of Santana, touch this and die?’”

“Don’t know. My eyes were closed,” Sam said, shrugging. “I promise to put it back where I found it.” Blaine decided to leave the conversation about using other peoples’ products for another time. He just had to remember to warn him before everyone else came home.

Sitting up, Blaine ran a hand through his messy hair and over his stubbly chin. He realized he must look ridiculous, especially compared to Sam, who was already all freshly showered and shaved. He glanced up and was almost startled to see Sam looking intensely back at him. As Blaine watched, Sam’s wide eyes trailed down his chest and back up again, to his lips, and returned to hold his gaze. Blaine was used to goofy Sam, and sad Sam, and even flirty Sam. But this was different. Sam was turned on. By him.

“Sam?” Blaine asked, a smile spreading over his face. “Feeling good this morning?”

“Yeah, I am.” Sam straightened up, and moved his hands to Blaine’s shoulders, holding him gently. “I’m in this. With you. I… I adore you,” he said, echoing Blaine’s words from last night. 

The expression on Blaine’s face must have revealed how incredibly good Sam’s words made him feel, because Sam positively bounced in response. He gave Blaine a quick hug, then pulled back, as if he was trying to keep himself from getting carried away. At least that’s how Blaine interpreted it, because he was wondering how on earth he was going to get himself into the shower without revealing exactly how carried away he was feeling right now.

“Why don’t I let you get dressed, and by then breakfast will be ready,” Sam suggested, backing up and off the bed. Thank god, Blaine thought, he read my mind. Because no matter how good all this felt, they had actually only been going out for a day. A really spectacular, emotional, best day of your life kind of day, but just one day. Blaine had to get a grip.

“Sounds good, Sam.” 

Twenty minutes later Blaine was out of the shower and back in his room, trying to decide what to wear. The red pants were a given, since it was Christmas, after all. In lieu of layers (cut it out, Blaine Anderson, he told himself) he opted for a soft black cashmere v-neck sweater. It wasn’t exactly his regular style, but he knew it looked good on him, as it clung tightly to his shoulders and arms. There was no need for Sam to know it was Kurt’s sweater that had shrunk just a little after Rachel washed it. No need at all.

Blaine found Sam in the kitchen, squeezing icing out of a ziploc bag onto the warm cinnamon rolls. He stood next to Sam, shoulders touching, and took a deep breath in. “Those smell amazing.”

“As good as me?” Sam joked easily.

Blaine blinked rapidly and then jumped, so to speak, into the deep end. “Not possible.” His voice came out lower than he intended.

Sam turned towards Blaine, a blush rising on his cheeks. “Do you, um, want to help?”

Blaine gazed at Sam. Sam had apparently decided it was safe to put a shirt back on, and the light blue t-shirt he had chosen made his eyes look even greener than usual. Blaine took the bag of icing from Sam and started swirling it out over the next cinnamon roll. Sam gave his shoulder a pat, which turned into an appreciative stroke down to his lower back. Blaine shivered. “You look great, by the way,” Sam breathed out. “And this sweater is wicked soft,” Sam continued.

Blaine turned and stared at Sam, his heart beating wildly, the bag of icing still uselessly dangling from his hand. Just as Blaine was seriously considering abandoning breakfast altogether and kissing Sam senseless, the doorbell rang, startling Blaine out of his desire filled haze.


	8. Secret Santa (...To A Kiss)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We pick up the story on Christmas morning. Blaine and Sam were icing cinnamon rolls but were getting distracted. Just as Blaine was seriously considering abandoning breakfast altogether and kissing Sam senseless, the doorbell rang.

Blaine shook himself and went to answer the door. By the time he returned to the kitchen, Sam was washing up at the sink, having finished icing the cinnamon rolls. Blaine plated them and placed them on a tray along with two steaming mugs of coffee. “Want to eat these by the tree?” Sam nodded, and Blaine carried the tray into the other room, placing it carefully on the coffee table. 

Sam joined him on the couch. “Who was at the door?”

“Just the postman. We got a package.” Blaine held out the thin package to Sam. It was addressed to them both.

“We did?” Sam asked, mouth full of pastry.

“Yeah, it’s from my parents. Should I open it?” Blaine asked, smiling at Sam, whose fingers were sticky with icing.

“Good idea.” Sam looked around. “I’m getting some napkins.”

Blaine really wanted to just lick Sam’s fingers clean, but he figured they probably weren’t at that stage yet. He laughed at himself and tried to focus on the task at hand.

Sam slid back onto the couch, a pile of napkins in hand, licking his lips. “What is it?”

Blaine pulled a letter and two smaller envelopes out of the package. “This is awesome!” Blaine exclaimed as he read the letter. “My parents got us a gift certificate to an Italian restaurant just around the corner from here. It’s a super cute little bistro, not too fancy but really good food. They said they made a reservation for us for tonight, but we don’t have to go tonight if we don’t want to.” Blaine paused, looking at one of the other envelopes. “There’s another surprise in this one,” he said, handing it to Sam. “You open it.”

Sam pulled out two theater tickets. “No way! Look at this!” Sam handed them to Blaine. “Tickets to Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark for tomorrow night!” Sam held his hand up and Blaine obediently high fived him. “Blam!”

Blaine was excited. “Spiderman had a lot of trouble getting off the ground, but I’ve always wanted to see it. I can’t believe we’re going to get to go before it closes.” He placed the tickets carefully back in their little envelope, setting them on the table away from the food.

When he looked back at Sam, he was frowning. “Blaine, these tickets are really expensive.”

“Hey, please don’t worry about it. My parents like to splurge sometimes. I’m sure they’re just trying to overcompensate for not being together at Christmas.” Blaine scooted closer to Sam on the couch and put a hand on his knee. “And since I couldn’t fly because I got hurt, they’ll get a refund for my plane ticket. They might even come out ahead!”

This brought a smile back to Sam’s face. “I really would like to see this show. It’s got amazing stunts, and a battle where the actors fly over the audience. And music by U2!”

Blaine and Sam chatted happily about Spiderman for a while, looking up some more information about the show online, since they couldn’t agree about what version was currently playing. They also decided to keep the dinner reservation. Although the cinnamon rolls were a tasty treat for breakfast, they hadn’t planned much in the way of meals for the rest of the day, so going out to dinner would be perfect.

Blaine carried the tray back into the kitchen when they finished, and refilled their coffee mugs. When he returned, Sam was standing by the tree, admiring the various ornaments.

“It’s so cool that you guys got a real tree and decorated it,” Sam commented.

“Kurt insisted, even though we didn’t think anyone would actually be here for Christmas. It’s been up for weeks. His dad brought a lot of the ornaments last year when we visited.”

Sam gave Blaine a funny look, but didn’t say anything. Blaine wondered if it was weird for him, being here with Blaine in the loft where Blaine and Kurt had had so many ups and downs.

Sam’s gaze fell on an ornament that was hung right at eye level, a shiny black grand piano. He reached out and pretended to press the keys.

“That one’s mine. It’s one of my favorites,” Blaine said quietly. The piano ornament had shown up on his doorstep last year a few days after Christmas. He wasn’t sure who had given it to him, but he always wondered if it was Sam. “Here, I’ve got something for you.” Blaine reached under the tree and brought out a small square box, wrapped in green paper with red ribbon.

Sam’s eyes got wide. “But I don’t have anything for you.”

“It’s okay. I got it a while ago. Just open it.”

Sam sat down on the floor, and Blaine sat down next to him. As Sam unwrapped the box, Blaine realized he was holding his breath. Relax, he thought.

Sam opened the box and took out a little ornament. It was a pretty acoustic guitar, with a floral inlay on the body, much like a guitar Sam had once admired when window shopping with Blaine. Sam looked up at Blaine, a broad smile spreading across his face. “It’s perfect, dude! It matches the piano.” Sam pretended to play the little guitar.

“So the piano was from you, right?” Blaine asked shyly.

“Yeah. I had a whole Secret Santa thing planned out, but then you went to New York for Christmas to see Kurt. I thought you’d be at Tina’s after-Christmas party, but you weren’t there, so I just left it at your house later.”

“I’m sorry, Sam.” Blaine remembered what a mess he’d been at this time last year, thinking he wasn’t going to get to see Kurt after all, and then getting the call from Burt about going to New York. “That trip was really last minute, and then when I got home, I was just confused. I didn’t feel like trying to explain to anyone what was going on with me and Kurt. I guess I kind of decided it was easier to just stay home and hide.”

“It’s okay. I pretty much got the picture when I showed up at your house on New Year’s Eve and you looked like a caveman. And not the sexy kind from our Katy Perry number,” Sam joked.

“Hey, give me a break! That’s probably the only time I went a day without shaving in the past year. And it wasn’t that bad.” Sam had come over on New Year’s Eve morning last year to find Blaine camped out in front of the television, wearing sweats and eating chips, in an entirely un-Blaine-like manner. As always, Sam had cheered him up, and by the end of the day they had gathered the rest of the glee club for a snowball fight in Blaine’s backyard, followed by hot chocolate and, of course, multiple musical performances. “Remember the snowball fight?”

“Yeah, it was awesome. Almost as good as watching Jake sing ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ with Marley. It seemed much more innocent when you and Kurt used to sing it.”

“That song is kind of creepy if you think about it, isn’t it,” Blaine mused. “But you know what I remember most about that day?” Sam shook his head. “How you were there for me. You knew just what I was feeling, and when to push me to snap out of my pity party and let myself have fun again.” 

“You deserve to have fun, Blaine,” Sam said softly, putting a hand on Blaine’s thigh, rubbing his thumb over the material of his pants.

“We both do,” Blaine replied. Suddenly the mood seemed to shift as Blaine found himself staring into Sam’s eyes. Blaine tried desperately to think of something to say, but all he could do was look at Sam. His heart was racing. God, this boy was going to kill him.

“Come here,” Sam said, standing up and taking Blaine’s hand. Sam pulled him over to the bedroom doorway, where Sam had apparently hung a sprig of mistletoe sometime that morning. Sam put his hands on Blaine’s shoulders, and ran them up and down his arms, taking his time over Blaine’s biceps. Blaine just stood there for a moment, enjoying the feel of Sam’s hands on him through his soft sweater, and then placed his hands gently on Sam’s waist.

“I don’t want to kiss you just because of the mistletoe,” Sam said softly, tilting his head to whisper into Blaine’s ear. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for ages. But I figure since it’s Christmas, we might as well have our first kiss be traditional.” Sam paused. “That is, if you want…” Sam’s words were cut off as Blaine pressed a finger to his lips.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you for ages, too,” Blaine said, his voice low. “And I think under the mistletoe is a perfect place for our first kiss.” Sam leaned down and kissed Blaine gently, then harder, as Blaine spread his hands on Sam’s back and pulled them closer. I can’t believe I’m kissing Sam, Blaine thought. And it’s awesome. After a moment they parted, smiling happily at each other. 

“Good Christmas present?” Sam asked.

“The best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second half of the response to the prompt "Secret Santa" - the first half is titled "Prelude" (and this one is "To A Kiss" - get it?). Thanks so much for reading - please comment and let me know what you think.


	9. Christmas Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy this. The next chapter will take a little longer, but I promise a New Year's Eve chapter is coming!

After the kiss under the mistletoe, Blaine didn’t really feel like doing anything else besides kissing Sam. As luck would have it, Sam seemed to feel the same way. So they relocated to the couch, where they continued to kiss and snuggle until they were, inevitably, interrupted by a knock on the door.

Blaine went to see who it was, and discovered that the postman was back with another package. While he was signing for it, he saw his neighbor, Maggie, struggling to get out of the apartment across the hall. “Sam, I’ll be right back,” he called, leaving the box inside the door and running over to Maggie.

“Need some help?” Blaine asked. Maggie was juggling a large carry-on bag, a tin-foil covered plate of what was probably some kind of Christmas treat, a stroller, and her two-year old daughter Annie.

“Oh Blaine, thanks! If you can just help us get down the stairs, that would be great.” Blaine scooped up Annie, who squealed happily, and took Maggie’s carry-on.

“No problem. Going away for Christmas?”

“Yeah, we’re headed to my parents’ house in Boston. I wish we could have gone up there sooner, but I had an interview yesterday.” 

“Yeah? How’d it go?” 

“I got the job!” Maggie exclaimed.

“Maggie, that’s awesome!” Maggie taught history part time at a local community college, but had been searching for something full time. “What’s the job?”

“Teaching at Northeastern. We’re going to live with my parents, at least at first, and my mom is going to help with Annie.” Maggie paused as they reached the lobby and Blaine held the door for her. “The only down side is that I might have to break my lease. You don’t happen to know anyone who wants a charmingly run down loft in Bushwick, do you?” 

Blaine couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you serious? Because I definitely do.” Blaine and Maggie exchanged numbers, and they agreed to talk more in a few days. Blaine helped Maggie and Annie into a cab, then danced back up the stairs. He had figured he was going to have to move out of the loft eventually – sharing a room with Kurt now that they weren’t together was obviously not something that could continue indefinitely. But Blaine had been awfully reluctant to leave his friends, and they hadn’t shown any indication of wanting him to leave. The possibility that he could move into the loft across the hall seemed too good to be true. He couldn’t help but hum the theme from “Friends” as he headed upstairs.

Blaine forgot about Maggie’s news when he entered the loft, however, as Sam immediately caught him up in a hug from behind before he could even get the door closed. “I missed you,” Sam murmured, kissing Blaine just under his ear. 

Blaine turned in Sam’s arms, his heart racing. “Missed you too.” As they headed back to the couch, trying to kiss and walk at the same time, Blaine nearly tripped over the package he had left by the door. Sam grabbed Blaine around the waist to steady him, and they both laughed. “Maybe we should open this before we break it?” Blaine suggested.

“Okay. But nothing’s going to top those Spiderman tickets.” Sam picked up the heavy box and put it on the kitchen table. They pulled off the tape and opened it up, revealing three gifts wrapped in sparkling red and gold paper. There were also two envelopes, one with “open me first” written on it, and the other with “open me second.”

Blaine opened the first envelope, revealing a little typed note that instructed them to open the three boxes and try to guess who had sent them. “Cool, a puzzle,” Sam said. “Which box should we open first?”

“I’m not sure if it matters or not,” Blaine replied. They didn’t see any instructions along these lines, so Blaine picked the wine bottle shaped box. “Bet I know what this one is.” Sure enough, it was a bottle of champagne, with a little tag on it that said “drink me”. Blaine was starting to get a pretty good idea of who had sent the presents, but he didn’t want to ruin the game for Sam. “You open the next one.”

Sam opened a heavy, flat box and peered inside. “I think it’s a cheesecake,” Sam said. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Everyone knew about Kurt’s dedication to cheesecake, especially anyone who had lived at the Hummel-Hudson’s house like Sam had.

“Kind of hard to imagine anyone else but Kurt sending us cheesecake.” Blaine opened the third box to find two dozen star shaped cookies beautifully decorated with gold icing. “Rachel!” Blaine and Sam said at the same time.

“So the champagne must be from Santana, right?” Sam asked. “I’m surprised it wasn’t tequila.”

Blaine laughed. “How did you know? She actually had a rather nasty incident with tequila a few weeks ago. I don’t think it’s her favorite anymore.”

Blaine opened the second envelope. It was a handmade holiday card with a drawing on the front of a fireplace hung with Christmas stockings. They could read the tiny names on each – Rachel, Kurt, Santana, Blaine, and Sam. Blaine’s eyes started to tear up as he read the card out loud. “Hope you enjoy the treats. We’re sorry you couldn’t come home for Christmas. Miss you! Love, your loftmates, Rachel, Kurt, and Santana.”

Blaine sniffed as a tear escaped and ran down his cheek. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Sam asked.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Blaine wiped his eyes, embarrassed. “It’s just that I always kind of felt out of place here, even though it’s been great living with these guys. But they were here first, you know? And when Kurt and I broke up again, I just kept waiting for them to tell me to move out.”

“But they didn’t?”

“Nope. And now this – they’ve got your name on there too. It just makes me really happy.”

Sam put his arm over Blaine’s shoulder and gave him a squeeze. “You shouldn’t be surprised that they care about you,” Sam said softly. He paused, looking at the card again. “How did they even know I was here?”

“I told Kurt, when I let him know I would be staying at the loft over Christmas.” Blaine and Kurt had texted back and forth after Blaine got hurt, so Kurt could let everyone know what was going on. Kurt had been worried about Blaine being by himself after the accident, and Blaine had reassured him that Sam would be there. “Should I not have told him?” Blaine wondered for a minute if maybe Sam had wanted to keep his visit a secret. 

“No, it’s cool,” Sam assured Blaine, but he looked away from Blaine.

“Sam?” Blaine twisted towards him, trying to look in his eyes. “Please tell me what you’re thinking.” 

Sam pulled his arm off Blaine’s shoulders, and wrapped his arms around his own waist. “I don’t know how to say it.”

Blaine felt his heart sink. Maybe Sam wasn’t going to stay in New York? Or maybe he didn’t want anyone to know they were together? “It’s okay, whatever it is. You know you can tell me anything.” Sam didn’t say anything, he just shrugged unhappily. Blaine took his hand and pulled him over to the couch. Sitting down next to Sam, he placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it in what he hoped was a comforting manner. “Sam? Are you nervous about coming out? Because I get it. Just talk to me,” Blaine encouraged. “I won’t be mad or anything, I promise.”

Sam lifted his head and he finally met Blaine’s eyes. “No, that’s not it. I mean, I guess I’m a little nervous about it, but not too much.” Sam bit his bottom lip and squirmed uncomfortably. “I guess it’s just feels weird, thinking about you and Kurt. Is he still going to want me here once he finds out about us? I don’t really know anything about why you guys broke up this time around, and it seems like you’re still really close. Which is great and everything…” Sam trailed off.

Blaine exhaled in relief. He could handle this. “Sam, I totally understand how you feel. I’m the first to admit that under normal circumstances, things could be awkward. But I think it’s going to be okay.” Blaine took one of Sam’s hands and squeezed it. “Kurt and I are still friends, but we are really, truly just friends this time. We’re in total agreement on this point. We’ve even talked about what it will be like when one of us starts dating someone else, and although it might be a little weird, it’s not because either one of us wants to get back together.”

Sam seemed to relax a little bit. “No ‘just friends’ hookups?”

“No hookups of any kind,” Blaine explained, “not since we broke up, and that was more than two months ago. We are completely sure we’re not getting back together.” Blaine suddenly had another thought that made his mouth go dry. Was Sam worried that he would cheat on him? “And I would never…”

Sam interrupted him before he could finish. “Blaine, no, I know, that’s not what I mean at all. I trust you, man. Don’t ever think that I don’t.” Sam paused and gave Blaine a little kiss and sighed. “You really don’t think Kurt will be upset?”

Blaine thought about all the conversations he and Kurt had over the past few months, including the one where Blaine had confessed how disappointed he was that Sam didn’t come to New York with him. “No. I really don’t think Kurt will mind us being together, once he gets over the initial shock. And he probably won’t even be that surprised. He knows all about my crush on you from last year, and when Marley and Kitty came to visit last month, Kurt was plying them for details about my senior year for hours. There was a lot of giggling, and every once in a while Marley would should ‘Blam!’ Kurt wouldn’t tell me what they talked about, but it was pretty clear it had to do with us.”

“Kitty always did think something was going on between us, didn’t she.” Sam smiled, and then sighed again. “But there’s barely even room for the four of you here. And you said Dani is over here all the time too. How will I even fit?” 

Blaine grabbed Sam’s hands in his and practically bounced in excitement. “That’s the best part. The other loft on this floor is going to be empty soon – Maggie, my neighbor, just told me she got a job in Boston and she’s moving out!”

Sam frowned. “Blaine, my parents gave me some money for rent, but I don’t think I can afford a place all by myself.”

“What if we’re roommates?” It slipped out before Blaine could think about how to ask the question, and he held his breath as he waited for Sam’s reaction. Ordinarily he imagined you would date someone for more than a day or two before asking them to move in with you, but they really didn’t have time to wait. And the original plan had been for Sam to be his roommate anyway, right? “Or if you don’t want to live with me, maybe Kurt or one of the girls could split it with you.” Blaine thought it was unlikely that either of the girls would go for that option, but maybe Kurt would like to get away from the drama for a while.

“We could live there together, just us?” Sam asked.

“If you want to, I think we could. I don’t know how much the rent is, but I can ask Maggie – it should be less than this place, since it’s a little smaller.” Blaine grabbed his phone from the counter and started texting. “I’ll ask her right now.”

Before Blaine could finish, Sam threw his arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. “Damn it, Blaine, how do you always make everything work out?”

Blaine laughed into Sam’s neck. “I have absolutely no idea. But today, I think it’s just Christmas magic.”


	10. Twister

Soon after Sam and Blaine settled down that afternoon to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Blaine drifted off to sleep, his head resting on Sam's lap. An hour or so later he woke up with a start, greeted Sam with a quick smile, and darted off to the bathroom to splash some water on his face and try to fix his hair, which looked pretty messed up from his nap. A nap which had not been nearly as pleasant as a nap cuddled up with Sam should have been. 

When Blaine emerged from the bathroom, Sam was idly reading through a stack of Christmas cards on the table, not paying much attention to the movie. When he saw Blaine pause as he came back into the room, he looked up. "Everything okay?"

"Mm hmm." Blaine wandered over to the tree, straightening a strand of lights that had started to twist. "Sam?" Blaine asked softly, still facing the tree. "Can I ask you sort of a random question?" Blaine wasn't sure that he really wanted to say anything about this at all, but he figured it was better not to dwell on it.

"Yeah," Sam replied, standing up and coming to look at the tree with Blaine. "Of course."

Blaine took a deep breath. "Were you ever interested in Rachel?"

"Rachel Berry?" Sam sounded confused.

"Well, yeah," Blaine laughed. "Do we know any other Rachel's?"

"No, definitely not. I mean, I don't know any others, and I've never been into her. Why?" Sam turned towards Blaine and tried to catch his eye, but Blaine kept his head down, playing with some tinsel. This was embarrassing.

"It's nothing. I had a weird dream just now, I just wondered. Don't worry about it."

"I love weird dreams! I'm great at figuring out what they mean." Sam grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled him back towards the couch, where he sat down sideways, legs crossed, facing Blaine. "Come on, tell me your dream."

"Let's forget it." Blaine wished he hadn't said anything. "It's just stupid."

"Hey, you can tell me anything, remember? And if you dreamed it, it's not stupid. Now spill." Sam gave Blaine his full attention.

"Okay, fine. In the dream everyone was back from vacation, and we were all hanging out at the loft. Santana was here with Dani, Kurt and Rachel, Elliot, and me and you. There was music on, and we were playing Twister, the original one where you have to stretch and twist all around to touch the dots, you know?"

Sam nodded. "Yup, I know."

"So in the dream I left the room for a minute, and when I came back in, you and Rachel were sitting on the Twister mat kissing." Blaine said this last part really fast, feeling ridiculous.

"Wow. Well, that one's pretty clear, isn't it." Sam poked Blaine in the shoulder until he looked at him. "You obviously want to play Twister."

Blaine laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. It's just that when we visited here last spring to look at colleges, and Rachel helped you with the photo shoot, it seemed like there was, I don't know, kind of a possibility there. I don't know why I thought about it today."

"You're not an idiot. But you have nothing to worry about. I like Rachel fine - she's been a really good friend to me - but I never liked her that way. She's a little intense, you know?"

Blaine gave Sam a quizzical look. "Fine," Sam admitted, "you can be a little intense too. But it's not the same." Sam scooted closer to Blaine, placing his hands on Blaine's shoulders. "I know you didn't expect me to like you back. I only just told you how long I've been thinking about you. As far as you knew until yesterday, I was only attracted to girls." Blaine looked up at Sam, nervous all of a sudden. "But I promise you, Blaine, what's going on between us is real. I'm not going to change my mind next time there's a girl in the apartment."

"No, Sam, that not what I meant..." Blaine trailed off, feeling terrible. He didn't really think Sam would just dump him for a girl, did he? 

"Well, maybe in a little part of your brain you are worried about it? And that's why you had that dream? It's okay if you are. I get it. But you don't have to be."

Blaine scrunched his eyes tight and tried not to cry. "I just like you so much, Sam," Blaine whispered.

"I like you so much too," Sam replied softly, stroking Blaine's cheek and waiting for him to open his eyes. "I told you, I adore you, remember? You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Honestly, even if we were only just best friends, that would still be true. But it's so much better this way, don't you think?" Sam's eyes were warm as he gazed at Blaine.

Blaine relaxed, took a deep breath, and smiled up at Sam. "Yeah, it is. It's awesome."

Sam wrapped his arms around Blaine and drew him close, then gave him a big, smacking, silly kiss. "I can't believe your unconscious paired me up with Rachel Berry," he said, laughing and pulling back to look at Blaine. "She is so not my type." 

Blaine giggled and slid his hands down Sam's back, enjoying the feel of his warm skin through his shirt. "Oh? What is your type?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Sam ran his eyes appreciatively up and down Blaine's body, and then leaned in so close that Blaine could feel Sam's breath on his lips. "You."


	11. Dinnertime Duet

Sam understood that Blaine might be feeling that their brand new relationship was a little too good to be true. He knew what it was like to give your heart to someone and have it broken, and he didn't fault Blaine for wanting to protect himself. 

He also wondered if Blaine was overthinking how Sam was feeling in regard to his own sexuality, worrying about whether Sam was okay with being attracted to a guy. Blaine was always so considerate about other people. But Sam really didn't think there was much to worry about. Sam had realized last spring that he had feelings for Blaine, and had plenty of time to think about what that meant. He had started paying more attention to his own reactions to both men and women, and while he hadn't come to any firm conclusions about whether he was gay or bi, he figured it didn't matter much right now. Because he was head over heels in love with Blaine, even if he hadn't said it yet. And he didn't care who knew. He just had to convince Blaine. 

As they headed out that night, excited to take advantage of the Christmas dinner that Blaine's parents had arranged as a gift, Sam started to form a plan. He saw Blaine reach out to take his hand, then pull back, sliding his hand into his coat pocket instead. Was Blaine concerned about whether Sam was okay being open in public? There's an easy way to fix this, Sam thought, and threaded his arm through Blaine's, pulling them closer. Blaine gave Sam one of his big happy grins, and Sam smiled back in return. He could do this.

The little Italian bistro was cozy and warm, and sparkled with tiny white lights and flickering candles. As they waited for the hostess to seat them, Sam took Blaine's coat off his shoulders and slid his hand down to rest firmly on his lower back, standing in close beside him. Blaine seemed a little surprised, but pleased, as he gave the hostess his name and they were shown to their table.

The dinner was going well, and the food was delicious. Blaine ordered a bottle of wine and the waitress didn't even blink an eye. Sam had to excuse himself for a minute, and as he got up from the table, he laid a hand on Blaine's shoulder, breathing a "be right back," into his ear. When he returned, he curled his foot around Blaine's ankle under the table, and watched Blaine's happy reaction with delight. 

For dessert they ordered the restaurant's signature dish, a molten chocolate cake with cinnamon gelato, to share. Sam took advantage of every bite, first offering a spoonful of cake to Blaine, keeping his eyes locked on his, and then taking his time eating the creamy gelato, being sure to lick the spoon each time. The soft blush on Blaine's cheeks - as well as the way Blaine's eyes drifted from his eyes to his lips every time he took a bite - encouraged Sam to keep going. At one point he even reached out to wipe a bit of chocolate off Blaine's mouth with his finger, to which Blaine responded with a delicious shiver.

When he slipped a foot out of his shoe and ran his toes up Blaine's leg, causing him to nearly choke on his coffee, Sam realized he may have gone too far. "Sorry," Sam said, with a little grimace, reaching over with a napkin. 

Blaine just cleared his throat and blinked widely at Sam. "Let's get the check."

They made the trip back to the loft in record time, and as soon as the door closed behind them, Blaine pushed Sam up against the wall and attacked him with a hungry kiss. "Holy shit, Sam, were you trying to kill me?" Blaine breathed as he came up for air. 

Mission accomplished, Sam thought excitedly. Blaine was clearly convinced that Sam really was attracted to him, and was having no trouble at all with the concept. Sam peeled Blaine's coat off and then his own while Blaine continued to kiss him greedily, rubbing his hands up and down Sam's arms, over his shoulders, and back again. These kisses were nothing like the soft kisses they had traded earlier in the day. Sam poured himself into each kiss, trying to convey to Blaine how much he felt about him. Sam slid a hand down Blaine's back and then over his ass, pulling him closer, eliciting a soft moan from Blaine as their bodies pressed together. 

"This okay?" Sam asked, pausing to catch his eyes. Please, please say yes, Sam thought desperately.

"God, Sam, so okay." Blaine shifted a little, bringing one leg up to wrap around Sam. Sam slid down a little against the wall and rocked up against Blaine. 

"Have a good dinner?" Sam asked, now attacking Blaine's neck with little kisses and licks. "Like the gelato?"

"How can you even still be speaking," Blaine mumbled, sliding a hand under Sam's shirt and up over his chest. Sam gasped as Blaine's fingers traced circles over his nipples, teasing and pulling. At the same time Blaine dived in for another heated kiss, and pressed his hips against Sam.

Sam realized he wasn't going to last much longer. He didn't think he had ever been so turned on in his whole life. "Blaine, Blaine, I'm gonna..."

"Oh God, Sam, me too."

Before they knew it, the boys were curled together on the floor, spent and sticky. "I can't believe we just came in our pants, in the doorway," Sam giggled, nuzzling Blaine's neck. "And there's a perfectly good empty apartment right here, with beds and everything."

"I'm lucky I made it back to the loft." Blaine wiggled, pushing a shoe out from under where he had landed on it and snuggling closer to Sam. "There were a few minutes there at the restaurant that I thought I was going to have a problem."

"Just a few?"

Blaine poked Sam playfully. "You're unbelievable. What am I going to do with you?"

"Kiss me?" 

"I can do that." Blaine leaned in for a sweet kiss, then pulled back and looked at Sam, eyes glowing. "You're amazing, Sam."

Sam felt like his heart was going to burst. "I adore you, Blaine Anderson," he said, slipping in "adore" instead of "love" once more. Soon, he thought, soon. "Don't you ever doubt it."


	12. Declaration

After Christmas Sam and Blaine spend a few days sleeping late and lazing around until they start to drive each other a little crazy, and not in a good way. Blaine decides he had better take a look at what assignments he was supposed to be working on over the break, and Sam contacts a few of the modeling agencies he had spoken with when he was last in New York. Sam’s surprised when one of them asks him to come in for a shoot right away – apparently the holidays are a busy time for models.

With Sam out at the shoot, Blaine figures he’ll be able to really focus on his school work. But of course that’s not how it works, and after an hour or so of reading some obscure play that seems to just be making fun of itself, Blaine gives up. He straightens up the kitchen, throws some laundry in, and cleans the bathroom. Maybe I need to get out for a little while, too, he thinks to himself, and decides to go to the gym. Just before he leaves, he writes a quick note to Sam, and sticks it on the coffeemaker.

The gym is quiet, apparently not yet filled with the people who will soon pour in to try to fulfill their New Year’s resolutions. Blaine exchanges pleasantries with the guy at the front desk, who comments that he hasn’t seen Blaine in a while. Some quality time with the bag at the gym is just what Blaine needs, and after that and a quick shower, he heads home. On the way back he stops by a liquor store and wonders, as he buys a bottle of red wine, if Sam even likes wine. Guess I’ll find out, he thinks. 

It hasn’t even been a week since Sam showed up in New York, but it seems so right to Blaine to have him here. Even if they aren’t used to spending so much time together, ninety-nine percent of it is perfect. And when this weird, inbetween holiday vacation time is over, they will both have plenty of things to do to keep them busy most of the time – school, and work, and their friends. Blaine knows he is going to miss this alone time with Sam, but he’s looking forward to having a little more structure, too, so he isn’t constantly wondering if he should be thinking of something for them to do, entertaining Sam somehow. He knows Sam doesn’t need him to do that, but he gets a little nervous, he can’t help it. It’s like a combination of a really long sleepover and being on a week long date.

When Blaine gets back to the loft, Sam is settled on the couch, laptop open in front of him. “Hey, dude, there you are!” he exclaims. “Where’d you go?”

“Didn’t you see my note? I went to the gym.” Blaine checks the kitchen, and sure enough, his note is still there on the coffeemaker. “I didn’t want to text you and bother you, but I just needed to move around a little.”

“I didn’t see it, sorry,” Sam shakes his head. “Guess I should have thought to look for one.”

“It’s no big deal.” Blaine holds up the bottle he bought. “Any chance you like wine?”

“Sure.” 

Blaine hopes that means he actually likes it. He puts some cheese and crackers on a tray and brings it into the living room, then pours them each a glass of wine. He’s feeling relaxed after his workout, and it feels great to crash down on the couch and lean his head against Sam’s shoulder. Sam doesn’t really respond to his touch, which is strange. Blaine sits up and looks at him. “Sam, are you okay?”

Sam looks at Blaine, his face tightening up like he’s trying not to cry. “Look.” He turns the laptop towards Blaine. There are a few messages from various New Directions, wishing him happy holidays, along with a few “I knew it’s” and a more raunchy “get it” from Kitty. And then some not so nice messages from a boy Blaine knows is Sam’s cousin, and from one of the kids Sam knew from the synchronized swim team, who apparently personally offended that Sam is dating a guy.

“Oh, Sam,” Blaine breathes out. “That’s awful.” He tries to take Sam’s hand, but Sam slides it away.

“What I don’t really understand is how anyone knew,” Sam says quietly, looking down at his lap. “I figure you must have told them, because I know I didn’t.”

Blaine’s heart sinks. This is what he’s been waiting for, after all. It’s one thing for Sam to date his best guy friend when no one knows about it, but it’s quite another to tell the world. “I didn’t realize you wanted to keep it a secret.” Blaine stumbles up off the couch and runs into the bedroom, burying his face in the pillows. He feels like he’s going to be sick.

Blaine feels the bed dip as Sam sits down next to him. Of course Sam followed him. Because that’s apparently what he and Sam do – Sam never lets him get away with being melodramatic. Blaine sits up and takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

“Blaine, do you really think I want to keep us a secret?” Sam asks, trying to catch Blaine’s eye. Blaine just shrugs. “I don’t. I really don’t. But I also thought I’d get a chance to tell people myself, or at least we’d do it together. I would have at least appreciated a heads up.”

So Sam’s not mad that he told people about them, he’s just mad that Blaine did it first? Doesn’t that still sort of mean he doesn’t want to tell people? Blaine thinks back over the last few days, especially their dinner out on Christmas night where Sam clearly didn’t have a problem with them being together and letting anyone know it. Maybe he’s just scared of what people will think. Which clearly he has a right to be, given how those idiots on Facebook reacted. Shit.

“I’m so sorry, Sam. I should have talked to you first. I didn’t think it would get around like this, or that people would react this way.” Blaine puts a hand tentatively on Sam’s shoulder and looks him in the eye. “I’m really, really sorry. Probably Kurt told Santana, and then…” Blaine sees Sam flinch when he says Kurt’s name. Shit, again.

“Sam, I had to tell Kurt. He and Rachel are coming back tomorrow - I couldn’t have him just show up at the loft without knowing, that would be mean.” Blaine pokes Sam in the side a little, trying to get him to laugh. “Plus, you know, we’ve been sleeping in his bed.” 

That finally earns a weak smile from Sam. “Not just sleeping.”

“Exactly.” Blaine leans around in front of Sam, and pauses before giving him a hug. “Are we okay?”

“Yeah.”

Blaine exhales and pulls Sam into a tight hug. He can barely hear what Sam says next, as he whispers it into his hair. “But next time could you maybe talk to me first instead of your ex-boyfriend?”

Blaine decides not to comment on the fact that there hopefully won’t be a next time to tell Kurt that he’s dating Sam, realizing that’s not the point. “Yes, I promise.” He pulls back and looks at Sam, who still seems on the edge of tears. “But you have to understand that   
Kurt’s still my friend. Just like I was your friend when I was together with Kurt, and sometimes I told you things I didn’t tell Kurt, or I told you first, or whatever.”

“It’s not exactly the same,” Sam protests. “Kurt wasn’t worried about me, he knew I was straight. And Kurt's your ex.”

“Oh, please, he was plenty worried.” Blaine laughs. “Kurt’s been convinced that you’re gay since he met you. And I don’t think your sexuality mattered, he was still jealous. Plus, he didn’t trust me.” Blaine pauses, thinking. It really hadn’t been a good thing that Kurt was jealous, if he actually had been. But Blaine had needed Sam’s friendship, especially before he and Kurt got back together. Although things had changed when they got back together, and he could confide in Kurt again. And now Sam was his boyfriend, not Kurt. “Maybe I’m wrong, actually.”

“Wrong about what?” Sam asks curiously.

“Maybe I’m not taking this seriously enough.” Blaine has Sam's attention now. He takes Sam’s hands in his and squeezes them. “Let me try again. It’s good for us to have other friends. It’s something we’ll both need – I never could have survived last year without you as a friend. But you’re not just my friend anymore.” Blaine smiles at Sam. “And that makes me really, really happy. But here’s the point: I promise to always tell you first about the important things, because you come first with me.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. You’re my boyfriend, and you come first.” 

Sam exhales and pulls Blaine into another hug, relaxing into it this time.

“Thank you, by the way,” Blaine says.

“For what?”

“For calling me on what I did. I know I’m going to screw up sometimes. I don’t want to, but I probably will. So you just need to tell me right away, like you did today, okay?”

“Is this wisdom you’ve learned from your vast experience with relationships?” Sam jokes.

“You bet. I’ve got screwing up down to a science. Studies have been done on how well I’ve screwed up.” Blaine jokes back, relieved that things have lightened up.

Sam stands up and takes Blaine’s hand, pulling him up off the bed. “Maybe we should get back to that wine?”

“Definitely. No more Facebook for tonight.” Blaine swings their hands back and forth as they go back to the living room.

“Actually, there is one thing we should do on Facebook.”

**Sam Evans is in a relationship with Blaine Anderson.**

**Blaine Anderson is in a relationship with Sam Evans.**


	13. New Year's Eve

When Kurt and Rachel got back to New York on New Year’s Eve day, suddenly all Blaine and Sam’s days of lazing about the loft seemed a distant memory. After hugs all around, Rachel immediately insisted that Blaine and Sam help her run lines for a scene in class that she had been supposed to be working on all through break, but of course, hadn’t gotten to yet. Kurt was buzzing around the apartment, unpacking and sorting his clothes, interrupting them every so often to prompt them for a comment on a new sweater or accessory he had received as a Christmas present.

Finally Rachel went off into her room to have some “alone time” with her character, but before Blaine had a chance to really talk to Kurt (praising his outfits didn’t count), Santana arrived. 

“Hey, Santana, we didn’t expect you for a few more days,” Kurt commented as she pushed past him into the kitchen, immediately rummaging around in the cabinets.

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss the chance to spend New Year’s Eve in New York City with my best gays and Berry.” Santana appeared to find what she was looking for, as she pulled some glasses down from the shelf. “Besides, Dani’s parents changed their plans and came home early.” Santana shrugged. “She should be here soon.” Her search for glasses became clear as she pulled a bottle out of her bag. “Tequila, anyone?”

Everyone had wandered into the kitchen, listening to Santana’s explanation. “Isn’t it a little early to start?” Blaine asked. “We’ve got hours until midnight.”

“And I though you went off tequila?” Sam asked.

“Trouty, hi!” Santana pulled Sam into a hug, ignoring his question. “So is it true? You guys are finally doing it?” She pointed back and forth to Sam and Blaine, smirking. 

Sam blushed, but didn’t seem to really mind Santana’s question. “Yeah, I finally got up the guts to go for it.” Sam put an arm around Blaine, who was also blushing furiously. “Luckily Blaine still has a thing for dorky blonds.” Blaine let Sam pull him close but avoided looking at Kurt. He still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Kurt about him and Sam, and he really hoped this was going to be all right.

“Well, that certainly deserves a drink,” Santana encouraged, pouring them each a shot. “To Trouty, for getting his head out of his ass and focused on Blaine’s!”

“Oh my god, Santana,” Blaine mumbled, as Kurt and Rachel squealed. He knew Santana’s comments were well meaning, but she still managed to make him cringe. 

“You do have a very nice ass, Blaine, we’ve all noticed it,” Rachel teased. “And don’t try to tell me you don’t know it. How else can you explain the twerking video? Tina said you didn’t know she was watching, but you were angled just right towards the camera…”

“How did you see that?” Blaine exclaimed. “She promised she’d delete it.” Although Blaine hadn’t minded at the time when Tina sent it to Kurt, he really didn’t want anyone else to see it.

“Blaine, sex tapes and embarrassing videos are forever,” Santana pointed out. “Plus, Tina played it on her big screen television at her after-Christmas party a few days ago. She definitely hasn’t deleted it.”

“There was also a great behind the scenes video from the calendar shoot.” Kurt mimed lifting weights. “That was some nice work you guys did. High concept art. And I loved the hot in here number – very sophisticated choreo.”

“Okay, now you’re just laughing at us.” Sam pushed his empty glass towards Santana. “The least you can do is give me another drink.”

As Santana poured them each another shot, Kurt looked up from his phone. “Elliott wants to know if we’re still doing karaoke at that place in the village tonight. We are, right?”

“Definitely,” Rachel replied. “This is the best night of the year for karaoke. A bunch of my cast mates from Funny Girl said they were going to be there.” 

“Why is it the best night of the year for karaoke?” Sam asked Blaine quietly. “I thought everyone went to see the ball drop in Times Square?”

“Times Square is for tourists,” Santana said mockingly. “And Berry’s just talking crap, but we like karaoke. So we’re going.”

“There’s free champagne at midnight, Sam. And disco lights.” Rachel explained.

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Blaine smiled at Sam. “I know how you hate to sing in front of people.”

“No, karaoke sounds great,” Sam smiled back at Blaine, lost in his eyes for a moment. Then he looked up at the group, who were all looking right at him and Blaine. “Um, who else is going?”

Rachel and Kurt launched into an explanation of various NYADA friends and diner coworkers who might or might not be joining them, while Santana turned her attention to her phone. “Dani’s running late, but she should be here by eight.”

Blaine tried in vain to catch Kurt’s eye, hoping to pull him aside. Kurt seemed perfectly at ease with the situation with Sam, but Blaine still felt a little odd. Blaine was always aware of Kurt when they were in a room together, almost unconsciously keeping track of where he was, whether he seemed comfortable, the look on his face that he’d get when a party got to be too much for him and he’d rather just go home. He still felt himself watching Kurt that way, but knowing that Sam was right there too was just kind of confusing.

Santana had apparently finished her second shot and was pouring herself another when Kurt cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Before everything gets too crazy tonight, there’s something I want to say.”

Blaine suddenly tensed up. Sam just looked at Blaine curiously, and gave him a gentle smile and a nudge with his shoulder. Sam could always tell when Blaine felt nervous.

“This has been quite a year for me. Some of the very best things to ever happen to me happened this year, and some of the worst.” Rachel grabbed Kurt’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “But through it all, you guys were always there for me. You’re my family, and I’m so grateful.” Kurt looked at each of them. “That includes you too, Sam. And is bittersweet as it is for me to see Blaine smile that smile of his at you, please know that I only want the best for both of you, always.”

Kurt pulled Sam and Blaine into a hug, and Rachel and Santana piled on. There were some sniffles and “I love you’s,” and then everyone extricated themselves and decided it was time to get ready to go out.

Blaine grabbed Kurt’s arm as he headed out of the kitchen. “Kurt, thank you.”

“What, for wanting you to be happy?” Kurt grinned.

“I just really appreciate it, that’s all.” Blaine hoped Kurt understood what he was saying, because he didn’t seem to be able to articulate it.

“Look, it was bound to be awkward, but it’s not as if I didn’t know how you felt about Sam. You guys mean too much to me to be a jerk about this.” Kurt shuffled his feet for a minute, then looked back up at Blaine. “I’m practicing being a grown-up. How am I doing?”

“Awesome. You’re doing awesome.” Blaine smiled broadly at Kurt. “Come on, show me what fabulous new outfit you’re going to wear tonight.”

Later that night, the party at the karaoke bar was in full swing. Blaine had managed to be pleasantly buzzed all night without getting drunk, which was a huge accomplishment for him given what a lightweight he used to be. The evening had been a warm blur of friends, singing, and dancing, and through it all, Sam. Sam was always there, sweet and funny, making jokes in Blaine’s ear, goofing around on the dance floor, and planting little kisses on Blaine’s neck when he thought no one else was looking. It was perfect. Blaine was sure he had never had such a good New Year’s. As midnight approached, Sam’s turn to sing came up again, and before he slid out of the booth, he gave Blaine a quick kiss and a pointed look. Rachel plopped down in Sam’s vacated seat, out of breath from dancing with Dani and Santana. “What’s he going to sing?” she asked Blaine.

“Don’t know,” he answered, focusing his attention on his boyfriend, who was smiling nervously as he fiddled with the microphone.

“Hey everybody,” Sam began. “This song is for a very special person. I’m feeling pretty fortunate tonight, and this sums it up.”

The music began, and Blaine felt a huge smile stretch across his face. He had never heard Sam sing this song before, but he was awfully happy to hear it now.

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend  
Lucky to have been where I have been  
Lucky to be coming home again

When Sam finished singing, Blaine climbed over Rachel and met Sam as he was heading back to their table. “Sam, that was great,” he said softly, reaching up to push his hair back from his face. 

“I am, you know,” Sam said, putting his hands on Blaine’s shoulders. “In love with you.”

Blaine took a deep breath, and pulled Sam in close. “That’s really good. Because I love you too.” The final countdown to midnight began, and Sam dove in to kiss Blaine. When the count reached zero and the crowd roared, Blaine pulled back from the kiss and looked into Sam’s eyes. “I guess we’re both pretty lucky.”

“Mmm, we are.” Sam smiled and put up his hand, and Blaine high-fived him. “It’s a Blam new year!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Sam sings is “Lucky” by Jason Mraz.
> 
> This is the end, although I may write more in this verse - please comment and let me know what you'd like to see!


End file.
